Rangers aim for return to top grade

A patient wait by Toowoomba Rangers to re-join the big league could be nearing an end with the announcement of a new-look Baseball Queensland competition for the upcoming season.

Toowoomba Rangers have successfully participated in minor leagues for a number of years after being demoted from the Major League because of technical issues.

The team has proven itself a dominant force in both Division One and Pacific League competitions after failing to meet strict criteria on junior player numbers enforced on Major League clubs.

But with the scrapping this year of the Major League, the gloves are off for all clubs as they prepare to take part in a newly structured competition.

The new format will consist of five divisions, headed by Division One down to Division Five.

Clubs have been invited to nominate teams for which division they wish to be placed in.

Toowoomba Rangers Baseball Club president Darryl Luchterhand said the competition revamp could provide his club with the break it had been looking for to return to top-grade baseball.

“The opportunity is there for us to nominate for Division One, if we choose to,” Luchterhand said yesterday.

“You must have a junior program to be approved, which we do.

“But the final decision will probably come down to our financial situation.

“All the players are keen to play Division One, but we’ll need to strengthen the line-up we had when finishing runner-up in Pacific B last season.

“We have some import players in our sights who could make us very competitive with the potential to even win Division One.

“But that won’t come cheaply so we have lot of planning and decision making to do, hopefully with some strong sponsorship backing before we commit.”